This invention relates generally to high speed impact printers and, more particularly, to an improved type bearing assembly for use therein, and to a method of fabricating such a type bearing assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,711 and the references cited therein disclose high speed impact printers utilizing flexible band assemblies for moving type characters along a row of individually actuatable hammers. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,711, the band is supported on a low friction roadbed and carries on its outer surface a plurality of equally spaced parallel elongated slugs which extend across the width of the band. Each slug has a type character formed on its end face, which can be impacted by an actuated hammer as the character moves past it. The band with the character carrying slugs is often referred to as a character belt.
For proper performance it is important that the slugs be equally spaced along the length of the band, and that the slug end faces carrying type characters reside in a substantially common plane essentially parallel to the common plane defined by the hammer impact faces. It is also important to minimize the amount of energy transferred to the band upon impact by a hammer against a slug end face and to further minimize energy transfer between an impacted slug and any adjacent slug. Furthermore, it is highly desirable to minimize the cost of fabricating a character belt having all of the above recited properties.